Air filtering apparatus

ABSTRACT

An arrangement for filtering the air entering the interior of a vehicle, particularly the interior of a car, includes a coarse filter, a fan unit and a fine-filtering unit. The whole of the arrangement is combined to form a unit which can be fitted to the vehicle in the manner of a conventional, openable roof hatch (b 2). When closed, the hatch has a rear part which projects above the roof of the vehicle and which includes an ambient air intake opening (3) in which the coarse filter is mounted. The hatch also includes a vehicle interior air intake opening (9), a shutter (11) for closing the ambient air intake opening and the interior air intake opening to a desired extent, and at least one outlet opening (8) through which filtered air is blown into the vehicle interior.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a vehicle-interior air filteringapparatus, particularly an air filtering apparatus for the interior ofcars, comprising a coarse filter, a fan unit and a fine filtering unit.

When the vehicle is moving, the volume of air draw into the vehicle maybe in the order of 15 m³ per minute. This air will contain pollen,various types of dust, and vehicle-exhaust particles. The air isnormally drawn into the vehicle by suction from a location about 60 cmabove the road surface on which the vehicle is moving and normallypasses solely through a coarse filter in which large particles areextracted from the air flow. Assays have shown that, in the case of towntraffic, the air is about 70% purer at a height of 120 cm above the roadsurface than at a height of 60 cm above said surface.

Consequently, it would be beneficial to take air into the vehicleinterior from a greater height above the road surface. Many cars andother types of vehicles are equipped with roof hatches (or slidingroofs). However, in order to avoid draughts, these roof hatches areconstructed so that no appreciable inflow of air is obtained, not evenwhen the hatch is open. Furthermore, the air which does enter throughthe hatch is not filtered.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The main object of the present invention is to provide an arrangementwhich can be readily fitted to an automotive vehicle, such as a car, andalso to existing automotive vehicles, and which will take-in ambientair, and filter said air, from a location at the greatest possibleheight above the road surface, and which can also be used to filter theair present in the vehicle interior, and which will also function as aconventional roof hatch, or sliding roof.

This object is achieved in accordance with the invention by combining afan and a filter unit in a roof hatch construction which can be mountedconventionally in the roof of a car for instance and which is connectedto the electrical system of the automobile. Since the roof hatch can beopenable in a conventional manner, there is obtained a combination ofthe following three advantages, among other things:

The arrangement can be used to take-in ambient air from a high heightabove the road surface, and filter said air;

The arrangement can be used to filter and recycle the air present in thevehicle interior; and

The arrangement can be used as a conventional roof hatch when sodesired.

Furthermore, all of these three functions can be combined selectively.

The particular characteristic features of the inventive arrangement areset forth in the following Claims.

Since the inventive arrangement can be fitted to a vehicle with the aidof techniques which have been well tested in the installation ofconventional roof hatches, the arrangement can be fitted readily atcomparatively low costs. The arrangement can also be constructed so asnot to be bound to any particular make of vehicle.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention will now be described in more detail with reference to anexemplifying embodiment thereof illustrated in the accompanyingdrawings, in which

FIG. 1 illustrates generally a car fitted with an arrangementconstructed in accordance with the invention;

FIG. 2 illustrates the inventive arrangement, obliquely from beneath;and

FIGS. 3-5 are sectional views of the arrangement shown in FIG. 2,showing different functional states of the arrangement.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

FIG. 1 illustrates a car 1 equipped with a roof hatch 2 which ismodified in accordance with the invention and which, in addition to itsfunction as a roof hatch, can also be used to blow filtered ambient airinto the vehicle interior and to recycle and filter the air present insaid interior. The hatch 2 is pivotally mounted in a conventional manneron a pivot axle provided at the forward edge of the hatch, so as toenable the hatch to be opened by swinging the rearward part of the hatchupwards to the extent desired. Alternatively, the hatch may be slidablymounted in guide rails fitted to the roof of the vehicle.

As will be seen also from FIG. 2, the rear part of the hatch, whichprojects above the vehicle roof, is provided with an ambient-air intakeopening 3, which in the case of the illustrated embodiment communicateswith two fan units 4, 5 which are controlled by means of associatedswitches 6 and 7 respectively and which function to blow filtered airpresent in the vehicle interior through an outlet opening or vent 8. Thereference 9 identifies an opening through which air present in thevehicle interior can be withdrawn from the interior with the aid of thefans, this air being filtered and subsequently returned to the vehicleinterior, through the opening 8. The reference 10 identifies aschematically illustrated operating handle which operates a shuttermechanism 11, by means of which the exposed areas of the suctionopenings 3 and 9 can be adjusted as desired.

FIG. 3 illustrates the hatch 2 in its closed position, in which theshutter mechanism 11 is set to a position in which the suction opening 3is fully open and the suction opening 9 is closed. In this case, ambientair is drawn in through the opening 3, by means of the fan units 4, 5,and passes through a coarse filter 12 and an opening 13, which has beenexposed by the shutter mechanism 11. The air drawn in through theopening 3 is then forced-out by the fans 4, 5 into a distributionchamber 14, from where the air is blown into the vehicle interiorthrough the opening 8, subsequent to being filtered in a filter unitcomprising a pre-filter 15, a carbon filter 16 and a microfilter 17.These filters can be constructed in a known manner, such that the airblown into the vehicle interior will be extremely clean. The filters arepreferably mounted in a cassette, such as to enable the filtercomponents to be cleaned and replaced when necessary.

FIG. 4 illustrates the use of an inventive arrangement for recycling andfiltering the air in the interior of a vehicle. In the illustration ofFIG. 4, the shutter mechanism 11 has been adjusted to a setting in whichthe shutter obstructs the ingress of ambient air while the opening 9facing towards the vehicle interior is fully open. The interior air iscleansed effectively from smoke and other contaminents when the shuttermechanism is set to this particular setting. Naturally, the shuttermechanism 11 can also be set to an intermediate position in which agiven quantity of fresh air can be admixed with the air present in thevehicle interior.

FIG. 5 illustrates the case where an inventive arrangement is used as aconventional, pivotable roof hatch, wherein ambient air is able to enterthe vehicle interior directly through the roof opening. Electric currentcan be supplied to the fan motors with the aid of switches or electricalcontacts mounted on the rear edge of the hatch and activated ordeactivated automatically when the hatch is opened.

One important advantage afforded by an arrangement constructed inaccordance with the invention and operative in supplying cleansed air tothe interior of a vehicle or/and cleansing the air present in saidvehicle interior is that the arrangement can be fitted to the vehiclewith the aid of tested and well-developed techniques, since thearrangement can be fitted in the same manner as conventional roofhatches, or sliding roofs. Furthermore, the inventive arrangementretains the conventional roof hatch function. Consequently, one and thesame roof-hatch construction can be used for different makes ofvehicles.

Although not shown, the inventive arrangement can also be provided withconventional devices for heating and/or cooling the air entering thevehicle interior, so as to obtain a desired climate therein.

Although the invention has been described with reference to anexempliyfing embodiment thereof illustrated in the drawings, it will beunderstood that this embodiment can be modified in several respectswithin the scope of the Claims. For example, the illustrated fans can bereplaced with some other suitable fan unit and the schematicallyillustrated shutter mechanism can be replaced with other devices forcontrolling the effective area of the suction openings.

We claim:
 1. An automotive vehicle interior air-filtering arrangement,comprising: a coarse filter (12), a fan unit (4, 5), and afine-filtering unit (15-17), wherein said arrangement is disposed in aunit adapted to be mounted to a roof of the vehicle in the manner of aconventional, openable roof hatch (2); said hatch having, when closed, arear part projecting upwardly above a roof of the vehicle and whichincludes an ambient air intake opening (3) in which said coarse filteris mounted; said hatch also including an interior air intake opening (9)communicating with the vehicle interior, means (11) for closing theambient air intake opening and the interior air intake opening todesired extents, and at least one outlet opening (8) through whichfiltered air is blown by the fan unit into the vehicle interior.
 2. Anarrangement according to claim 1, wherein said means for closing theintake openings (3, 9) includes a closure element pivotable between saidtwo openings.
 3. An arrangement according to claim 1, wherein saidfine-filtering unit (15-17) is mounted between the fan unit (4, 5) andsaid outlet opening (8).
 4. An arrangement according to claim 3, whereinthe fine-filtering unit includes a pre-filter (15), a carbon filter (16)and a microfilter (17).
 5. An arrangement according to claim 1, whereinthe hatch (2) is pivotable about a pivot axis mounted on the forward endof the hatch.